Lions outclass Chiefs, claim semis No. 1

MANILA, Philippines – AC Soberano dished out a career-best 26 points as San Beda outgunned Arellano U, 80-73, yesterday to clinch the top seeding for the 11th straight season in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan.

Soberano, the reigning three-point king, spiked his game-long brilliance with six triples while three other Lions churned out double-digit scores as SBC completed its domination of Arellano heading to the Final Four.

The Lions also beat the Chiefs, 91-81, at the close of the double round elims last week to force a tie at No. 1 with 14-4 records with the former repeating over the latter to clinch the top seeding for the 11th straight year.

San Beda will thus meet No. 4 Perpetual Help (11-7) while Arellano U will tangle with No. 3 Mapua (12-6) in the semis on Friday at the MOA Arena in Pasay.

The Lions and the Chiefs need only to win once to advance to the final. A deciding game, if necessary, will be played Tuesday, also at the MOA Arena.

“We just wanted to show our desire to win every game when we go out there,” said San Beda coach Jamike Jarin.

So efficient was Soberano, 22, that he made 10 of the 14 shots while going six-of-nine from beyond the arc in 23 minutes of action.

“I just go out there and played my role, which is to help my team win,” said Soberano.

Robert Bolick chipped in 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists, rookie big man Benedict Adamos finished with 14 points, six boards and four blocks and skipper Dan Sara turned in a superb all-around game with 10 points, five caroms and the same number of assists.

Jarin also made mention of his wards’ 20 assists in the game.

“ I’m proud of what we did in this game,” said Jarin.

Jio Jalalon sputtered for the second straight game, struggling for just 14 points on a woeful four-of-17 shooting. He also shot 14 points on a nightmarish five-of-23 clip in their earlier defeat to the Lions.